Blog Photography Tutorials

Tips on Taking Photos at the Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin Patch PortraitIt seems like on eof the Great American past times, packing up the kids and hauling them down to the good 'ol pumpkin patch to have some fun, eat some Kettle Popcorn, and oh, yeah, pick out that pumpkin you'll be carving for Halloween.

Let's face it, pumpkin patches are not what they use to be when I was growing up. I'm talking about a corner vacant lot where the farmers would come down and display their pumpkins and you picked one, or two, out and went home. Today, these pumpkin patches are equivalent to the Disneyland of pumpkin patches; they have rides, food stands, little shops and the whole nine yards. So, picking out a pumpkin or two is no longer a trip that lasts, at tops an hour, it's an all day affair. And with all of the different events, you probably will be hauling the camera, tucked away in the back of the stroller no doubt, down with you. Sure, I'd love to accompany you and take professional family photos, but, I don't think the average family could afford a professional, "tag-a-long" photographer for the day, so I offer you some tips on taking photos while you and your family enjoy the day at your local pumpkin patch farm.

11 Tips for Taking Family Photos at teh Pumpkin Patch

  1. First and foremost, you want to safeguard your camera. Keep it secure. I wrote a whole blog on keeping your camera safe on my photography light and tips blog.
  2. Take lots of photos. Chances are, you are probably using digital. there's no reason not to take lots of photos of the kids and family at the pumpkin patch. You can sort through the ones you want to keep later.
  3. Family Fun Pumpkin PatchCapture your family having fun. Natural, candid photos are the best. If they have an area for a hay fight, get your family in the ring and start capturing the fun. These types of photos make the most memorable pictures.
  4. Vary your angle. All too often, actually almost all of the time, people take photos at their eye level. Get down low, or up high and take the photos from different angles. This helps make your photos interesting.
  5. Capture some "white" or "blank" space in your photos. What I mean is leave room for a message. Take a look at the photo of the three pumpkins on this page. I leave lots of room for a message or to add additional images in Photoshop or Photo Elements. You may want to use the photo for a family invitation holiday photo or invitation to a holiday party.
  6. Use the pumpkins as a background for your photos. Take a look at the young child holding a pumpkin. I positioned her in a way to where I could use the pumpkins as my background. This could work with hay, or any other type of item at the pumpkin patch. Be creative.
  7. Get close-up, tight shots. One of my signature shots is the tight, close-ups. I like to see the expression, plus it eliminates any clutter in the background if you happen to be in an area where they don't have good backgrounds.
  8. pumpkins2Take photos of the surrounding environment, to include any signs that name to pumpkin patch. You can use these later if you want to put together a photo album or just remember the pumpkin patch you visited.
  9. Take photos of the process of picking out the pumpkins. Capture your family choosing and picking out the pumpkins.
  10. Take individual photos of the family. Take individual photos of family members. These can be fun and silly images of the family at the pumpkin patch.
  11. Finally, don't forget to get a group photo, preferably with pumpkins in the background or the name of the place. If you don't have a camera with a self-timer and tripod, then ask someone, politely, if they would take your photo. The majority of people will stop and help you out, if you're nice and appreciative.
There are many factors that go into taking family photos. However, my own personal philosophy is to capture the spontaneous moments. The candid shots, if you will. These types of images are the most telling photos. They capture the tru personalities. Above, are just some tips, but if you focus on the candids and recording the day as it unfolds, then you will end up with some very special, cherished, photos.

How to Crop/Frame an Image in the Camera

This is a tutorial guide for the photographer or videographer on the various ways to frame your photograph. It's a great tool for the portrait/head shot photographer, but can also work for wedding photographers who are working with the bride, groom, or family members. 

Invariable, cropping can occur in post production for still photographers, however, this guide will help you get the most from your shots during the photo shoot. There are 9 shot frames used with 4 of them being the most common: full shot, medium shot, close-up shot, and the extreme close-up shot.

A list of the 9 camera shot frames:

Full Shot (FS): Just as the name implies, the image captures the full body shot of your model.

Full Shot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Medium Full Shot (MFS): This camera shot is typically cropped at the knees and show everything above the knees on your model.

medium full shot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Medium Shot (MS): This is your standard medium shot which is cropped below the waist around the pubic bone area.

medium shot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Medium Close Shot (MCS): The medium close shot is cropped slightly above the waist-line of your model.

medium close shot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Close-Up Shot (CUS): The standard close-up shot is cropped slightly mid-chest/ under the arm pit area of your model.

close-up shot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wide Close-Up (WCU): The wide close-up shot is cropped at upper chest of your model.

wide close up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full Close-Up (FCU): The full close-up shot is typically used as your head shot image for models or portraits, corporate or acting, etc. This shot is cropped at the top of the shoulders.

full close up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Medium Close-Up (MCU): The medium close-up shot is cropped at the neck area of your model.

medium close up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Extreme Close-Up (ECU): The extreme close-up is cropped tight and above the chin. Used for more dramatic shots and focus on the face for intensity.

extreme close up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Images copyright Alyn Stafford. Model: Jessica. All rights reserved. You may link to this article. Images may not be reproduced electronically or in print without the expresse written permission of Alyn Stafford.

Creating A Quick Photoshop Sepia Tone Effect

Sepia, pronounced, “see-pee-uh”, is originally a brown pigment obtained from the ink like secretion of various cuttlefish and was originally used as ink for writing. Later, a more concentrated form was produced for use in watercolor paintings. Photographs of the 1800’s where primarily printed on paper that was not acid free and as they aged, the photograph turned brown or “aged”.

In modern photography, dyes where used to dip the printed black and white photo and recreate that “aged” look. The age looked is still popular and much simpler and less messy to accomplish in digital photography using photo editing software such as Adobe Photoshop.

While there are several techniques and third party plug-ins you can use and purchase to accomplish the sepia toned look in a digital photograph, the technique I explain below is quick and simple and doesn’t require fussing with duotones or quadtones. I picked this technique up from a digital photo lab I use and this is basically how they convert their images to sepia tone.

My directions will be for Photoshop CS2, however, this will work in any Photoshop version on a PC or Mac. Additionally, other image editing software that has a color balance option will work as well.

Step 1

Open your color image in Photoshop. FILE>OPEN

Photoshop tutorial wedding photo

Step 2

You will need to convert your image to Black and White. I use image editing plug-ins to accomplish this, however, for simplicity, you can use Photoshops “Desaturate” option: IMAGE>ADJUST>DESATURATE . This will provide you with a grey scale version of your color image. See the image below:
black and white photo

Step 3

You’re now ready to create your sepia toned photo. From your Photoshop menu, select: IMAGE>ADJUST>COLOR BALANCE:
You now should see your dialog box at teh top of your dialog box, there are 3 small input boxes where you will input the following information (see image below):

  • First box, place the number 30
  • Second box, leave it at “0?
  • Third box, place a -20 (that’s minus) in the box

    • You will notice that the sliders below the input boxes will move toward the Red channel and the Yellow channel. You should now see that your image has transformed from a black and white photo to a sepia toned photo. You can experiment with the tone by adjusting the numbers or sliders, but the combination I have provided makes for a mild sepia toned image.

    photoshop sepia

    I have found that the best images to convert to sepia tone are those with good highlights in them and images that are not heavy in vegitation or have lots of dark areas. While any image can be converted, not every image will look good as a sepia toned image.

    Here I have the final image in sepia tone. I added the border for effect using Auto F/X Edges. (A third party Photoshop Plug-in).

    final sepai photo